11 Events in 11 Months?

So, in 2011 there are only 5 months in which I'm not booked to do some type of fitness event (they are 90% running, but August's is a 4 day bike ride, which will make me not able to run that month as well).  Consequently, on the UP road runners club race calander, they posted two events (which I ran this last year) that would make it so I only have three months left in which I'm not running anything yet.

April 16th- Norway Spring Classic (last year I did the 10K, I would do that again this year)
June 26th- Munising Pictured Rocks Road Race 5K

The Norway one I'm doing for sure now because it's the next town over, so I have no excuse not to do it. Plus, I want to improve my time from last year, and it will be a good mid-length race to run the month before the Green Bay Half Marathon. 

The Munising one I'm going to consider for awhile....you see, now that I have another two months covered, I'm thinking it would be fun to run an event each month of the year in 2011 (I've missed January, but I'll deal).  However- Munising's 5K kinda sucked last year.  It was boring, little to no good scenery, and it is a 2 hour drive to get there for a 30 minute run.  On the other hand, it was my fastest 5K since starting running as an adult, and it would be neat to try to beat last years PR.  And, I potentially could run the half marathon that they have at the same time- which goes through trails and is pretty.  However...two half marathons in back to back months?  I don't know if that is wise.

Also...it doesn't say on the website if you get a medal or not for the half marathon, and as pathetic as it is, that is going to be a large contributor to whether or not I sign up.

As far as the other months I don't have planned?  Well September- I have some options- a half marathon or a 10K. November- I'm sure I can find a turkey trot somewhere, although I hate to plan that on Thanksgiving- but that seems to be the only things available in Nov around here!  And December- that will be easy- a 5 mile jingle bell run in Kiel, WI (which I did in 2009)

So...November is the only questionable one.

Hopefully I will look better than this by the end of the year....

Should I go for it?

New Shoes!

After much mental debate, I purchased some new shoes.  I've been intrigued by the whole "barefoot" or "minimal" running movement for awhile now, but I didn't want to just jump right in and buy a pair of Vibrams or something similar.  Luckily, over the last few months, some mainstream companies have come out with their own versions of minimal shoes which are nice halfways between normal running shoes and full fledged barefoot shoes.

While there are a few different ones out there, I decided on the New Balance WT 101's.  I went with them because I've had a lot of New Balances in the past and have been happy (for the most part) with them. I recently switched to Under Armour shoes from New Balances because New Balance had A LOT of bulk to them and the Under Armour shoes made my feet feel light and speedy.

I've been considering the minimal movement pretty much ever since my half marathon in October.  Why?  Well, during that half marathon, I got extremely tired (due to undertraining) around mile 9 or 10 and my form slipped, a lot.  This was also during a point when I was traveling downhill for a major portion of the race- so, bad form + downhill= lots of foot slapping, heel striking, and joint jamming.  So much so that my knee still hurts from it if I don't take my glucosamine supplement.

After reading everything that I've seen about minimal/barefoot thinking- their basic argument comes down to this- if you wrap your foot in padding, you'll change your form (because it wont hurt your foot) to something that will hurt the rest of your body later on (i.e., major heel striking).  This can be proven over and over again- go for a run with shoes and then without- your form is totally different, naturally, and I can guarantee that you aren't heel striking when you're barefoot, because the pain would make you keel over.

So, I'm gonna try it out and see if I like it, if it kills me, or makes me a better runner.  I will also post said results on this blog.

And, my shoes came in the mail today!  Here are the pics-

Outer side

Inner Side

Top

Bottom

My only concern is these are kind of billed as trail shoes and all the reviews come from people who have used them on trails...and I mostly want to use them on the road.  Oh well, nothing to do now but try!

This week the new fitness center at the Y will open...so I can try them as soon as this week!  Woo!!

Goals for 2011

So, I guess it would be a good time to write down my goals for 2011.  I think I'll even add a page to my blog for it after this post. 

1. Run a Marathon (Planning on Chicago in October) in 6 hours or less (13:44 min/mile)
2. Run a 5K in 29 minutes, 59 seconds- or less (9:38 min/mile)
3. Run a 5 mile race in 59 minutes, 59 seconds- or less (12 min/mile)
4. Run a half marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes- or less (Min/mile time: 12:36)
5. Complete a Triathlon without drowning
6. Get into the 140's
7. Never get above the 160's once I get into them.
8. Try something new once a week- can be a new food, a new fitness item, a new pen, whatever as long as     it's new- and blog about it!
9. Blog once a week consistently.
10. Get more organized around the house- as the least measurable goal, this will be the hardest to know when I've "done" it, but I'll do my best.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....

Well, this week is the first week I'm going to give the new Weight Watchers program a good try.  I took the journal that my meeting passes around to record my week, and I'm looking foward to a loss. 

Wanna know what I weigh??  185.  Kill me now!!  I can only wear one pair of pants again.  But, enough of that.  I'm not going to dwell on it.  Once I apply myself, the weight will come off quickly again, so I'm just going to let go and move on so I don't get depressed about it.

I added a few things to my 2011 schedule!  It now looks like this:

February 20th- 5K in Las Vegas
March 19th- 5K in Clare, MI
April- nothing yet
May 15th- Green Bay Half Marathon
June- Nothing- Cruise to Jamaica!
July 10th- Northwoods Triathlon- Iron Mountain, MI
August 7th-11th- Tour Da UP Bike Ride
September- Nothing yet- one year wedding anniversary and a wedding to go to!
October 9th- Chicago Marathon
November- nothing yet
December- nothing yet

And...I even have some thoughts for 2012!
January- goofy challenge in Disney World
July- Wish A Mile 300 mile bike ride


So....that Triathlon I added for this year.  We finally got a YMCA in town, and they decided to bring back that triathlon (I guess it was done years ago).  I've never done a tri yet and I'm pretty excited.  For the last two weeks, I've been swimming 3-4 days a week to train.  I've never had a training lesson before, nor have I ever lap swam, so I learned everything I know from You Tube.  I'm getting a lot better relatively quickly- the first week I definitely thought I was going to drown.

I've also been running in the water, because the fitness center in the new Y doesn't open until the end of January, and it's way too damn cold to run outside right now.  Today it was -3 without the wind chill.  No way I'm running in that.

The 5K in Las Vegas next month- I get to do that because I'm going to Vegas for a convention for work!  Very excited about that!!


Anyway, just wanted to do a quick update on what's been happening.  :)

Doing a pretty good job...

The title is ironic.  I'm not doing a good job of updating this, of tracking or watching what I eat, or running.  I haven't ran since right before Thanksgiving.  I am joining a gym this week though and I'm committing to going back to Weight Watcher's meetings this week as well.  After all, my next half marathon is only less than 5 months away! 

Anyway.  I'm going to *try* to do better with this.  I need to.  I'm up to a bad weight again (I'll post when I know...yeah, I don't even KNOW it...) and I'm losing my fitness quickly.  Gross.

In happier news, I know some of my future events for 2011!

Green Bay Half Marathon: 5/15/11
Northwoods Sprint Triathlon: 7/10/11
Tour Da U.P. Bike Ride- Beginning of August
Chicago Marathon: 10/9/11